In 1854 he received a commission from the Sociéte d'études du Canal de Suez at Paris to negotiate with Säid Pacha for the construction of the canal projected in 1816. Accordingly, toward the close of that year, we again find him on the Isthmus, preparing for his great work. This time he came to conquer. His mission was crowned with success, and the necessary concession made in November of that year. A palace and a retinue of servants were assigned to his use, and he was treated, as a guest of the Viceroy, with the utmost respect. Great opposition followed, especially from England; and it was not till January, 1856, that the second and fuller concession was granted by Säid Pacha, and a Compagnie International fully organized.
In 1858 M. Lesseps succeeded in raising two hundred millions of francs in France, and in 1859 he proceeded to Egypt and planted the Egyptian flag in the harbor of the ancient Pelusium, the great sea-port of Egypt thirty centuries ago, where Port Säid now stands. He laid, at the same time, the foundation of a lighthouse, and proudly proclaimed the work commenced. Fresh difficulties--chiefly of a political nature--interposed, but the indefatigable Lesseps never despaired. In 1859 he had the satisfaction of seeing his company and work placed upon a firm footing, though the final decision of the French Emperor was not given till July, 1864. From that time to the present hour the Canal has steadily progressed toward completion.
The personal appearance of M. de Lesseps is very striking. Though long past middle age, he has a fresh and even youthful appearance. Both face and figure are well preserved; his slightly curling gray hair sets off in pleasing contrast his bronzed yet clear complexion, his bright eye, and genial smile. He is somewhat over the medium stature, possessed of a compact and well-knit frame, carries his head erect, and moves about with a buoyancy and animation perfectly marvelous in one of his years and experience. His address is that of the well-bred, well-educated French gentleman that he is. His manner is winning, his voice clear and under most excellent control, as all those who have listened to his admirable lectures on the Canal at the late Paris Exposition cannot fail to remember. What is perhaps most remarkable in a man so bred and constituted, is that with great gentleness of speech and suavity of manner he combines a strength of will and fixity of purpose worthy of Napoleon or Caesar himself. Beneath that calm exterior lay a power which needed but the stimulus of a great idea to develop.
Though beset by difficulties, laughed at, and maligned, he has never for a moment swerved from his purpose or relaxed his efforts to accomplish it. Neither the sneers of Stevenson and his associate engineers, the heavy broadside of the "Thunderer," or the squibs of Punch, ever made any visible impression on the purpose or action of Lesseps.--"My purpose from the commencement was to have confidence," said he.
How bravely he has maintained his principle and redeemed his pledge let the ceremonies which marked the completion and inauguration of his great work tell--when sea sent greeting to sea; and let the keels of richly laden argosies from Cathay and from Ind, which plow the waters of the Canal, declare.
AN INGENIOUS VENT PEG.
The engraving illustrates an English invention of value in that it provides a means of giving vent to casks from which liquids are to be drawn, at the same time excluding the air when the drawing is discontinued, and thus preventing deterioration in the liquid by undue exposure to air.